The Oklahoma State Capitol is pictured. (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s mental health department hasn’t met the required benchmarks of a consent decree settling a 2023 lawsuit, according to a report published Friday.
The agency has produced “incomplete and internally conflicting” data, submitted plans missing essential information, and has not demonstrated “true urgency” in dealing with the consent decree, the report found.
While the leadership of recently appointed Interim Commissioner Gregory Slavonic has led to a “new approach” to the consent decree, “hard work and good efforts do not necessarily equate to best efforts,” the report written by a team of court-appointed consultants found.
The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services has made improvements in its communication with consultants, workplace culture, leadership and on some of the benchmarks, according to the report.
The landmark consent decree settled a 2023 lawsuit that alleged the Mental Health Department violated the rights of mostly indigent defendants who had been declared incompetent to stand trial by failing to provide timely court-ordered competency restoration treatment.
It’s expected to cost between $26 million and $45 million over three to five years, depending on the agency’s ability to provide competency restoration services on a set timeline, as required. Failure to comply could result in financial penalties.
Maria Chaverri, a spokesperson for the Mental Health Department, said the agency continues to work closely with the court-appointed consultants and values their guidance.
“We appreciate the consultant’s recognition of our progress,” she said in a statement Friday. “Change of this scale doesn’t happen overnight, but the court consultants’ advice has been crucial to our progress. (The Mental Health Department) is working to implement all recommendations and is committed to satisfying the best efforts requirement of the consent decree.”
The report revealed inconsistencies in data and a lack of a carefully considered plan to carry out the consent decree. For example, the consultants wrote they received conflicting reports of how many people are currently awaiting competency restoration services and the average time spent on a waitlist.
The consultants said the agency failed to meet benchmarks across multiple categories, which could result in either financial or injunctive remedies.
They offered guidance for the issues throughout the report and said financial penalties will only be incurred in this instance if other “recommendations and deliverables are not first satisfied.”
“While we offer no excuses for (the Mental Health Department), we also believe that the Department’s administrative forensic service continues to operate with a shoestring staff and limited funding,” the consultants writing the report wrote. “Important changes have occurred, but the Department needs more resources, including a senior official in charge of the Decree with exclusive responsibility for its implementation, as well as the infusion of additional funding for staff salaries, new hires, and additional resources.”
Slavonic’s leadership has created a new “tone” within the agency that allows for staff to work more freely with the consultants and steps have been taken to change critical leadership, the report found. But the Mental Health Department is still far behind in its efforts to comply with the consent decree, the report said.
Allie Friesen, the former commissioner, was originally tasked with carrying out the terms of the consent decree and was named in the lawsuit. Friesen was fired by state lawmakers in May following weeks of uncertainty about the agency’s finances.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said the report was “alarming” and it will take “tremendous effort” to get the agency on track with the consent decree’s required timeline.
“The consent decree that my office helped broker will save the state untold millions of dollars, but it is critical that the Department of Mental Health actually comply with the plan,” he said in a statement.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
